Forest child
by this account is crap
Summary: Someone has been watching team 7. They finaly come out of the shadows. They have lost their memory but Naruto finds some interesting things in their backpack, such as the leaf ninja headband... Beneath the tree's trilogy part one
1. 1 A promising start

**Hello monkey-cheese! A new story for you all!! Now I don't normally write much to do with 'Naruto' but here's me trying... yes it is an OC story but please don't let throw you off!**

**Please review...**

The girl hung about in the trees, high above the four people she was watching. It had been so long since she had felt such a strong recognition like what she felt then. She had seen him before, she was sure of it. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to concentrate on that feeling and form a memory. She was almost there; she could almost see it. Then it was snatched from before her eyes. She sighed and shut her eyes for a moment.

She had been watching this team of ninja for a long time now, perhaps too long. She opened her eyes again and examined the boy that she felt a connection to. His hair was dark and messy, his eyes full of pain. Maybe that was the only connection. The pain in his eyes was like that in hers but her pain just came from nightmares she had experienced since she was about five or six years old. She wasn't entirely sure when the nightmares started. They were her earliest memory.

Sighing she spared the other members of the team a quick glance. She liked the female team member, at least most of the time. The young girl had pink hair, held out of her eyes by the headband every member wore. The girl in the trees recognised this too; she had her own, hidden in the depths of her backpack. The other young boy was a little harder to like. It might have been the bright orange clothes that made the girl less wary of him but it was much more likely his loud nature. And then there was the team leader, the children's sensei. What had they called him...? The girl couldn't quite recall. She was sure this man had seen her once or twice out of the corner of the one eye he had showing. The girl was interested in this man. He was like the boy she recognised, there was pain hidden in his eye too. She decided that she had been there too long. If she didn't get anything out of this by the end of the day she would move on.

The boys were now trying to keep hold of a very reluctant cat. A smile curled onto the girls face. She loved cats.The cat jumped from one boy's arms and onto the other, the dark haired one. The ginger haired boy cried out and dove at the other boy. When the dust cleared it was to show one boy sitting on the other, with the cat on his head. The girl tried not to laugh but couldn't help it. She did manage to keep her laughter quiet but she had to shift slightly to help. Her laughter stopped abruptly as she felt her foot slip. Quickly as she could, she tried to grab the tree branch but missed.

Falling, she flipped just in time to land on her feet, cat-like on the forest floor. She barely made a sound but the light rustle of leaves seemed to be enough. The silver haired man looked up from his book and waved merrily. "Who are you?" the boy in orange asked in his ever loud voice. She had definitely been here too long. She got up and brushed imaginary dust from her clothes, then turned to go. She had caused no harm; they shouldn't have anything against her. The boy in orange clothes was suddenly in front of her. "Hey, you can't just start watching us and leave without answering my question!" He yelled in her face.

She paused thoughtfully and brushed a stray hair from in front of her eyes. "You're a determined bugger, aren't ya?" She muttered in the end. The boys face suddenly scrunched up in thought. The girl concluded he was trying to decide whether or not she had insulted him. She tried to circle round him.

An arm was suddenly over her shoulders. "That's Naruto," the silver haired man said from by her side. "But he has a point, your name?" The girl recoiled from his touch. She hated being touched. She had watched people before and this hadn't happened, why was this happening?

Then his question registered in her mind and she froze. Name's started running in circles in her mind but she couldn't fix on one. She didn't like lying to people if she could help it but this man had caught her off guard and she couldn't tell him she didn't have one, could she? "Why should I tell you," she stammered, stalling. "What's your name first?" That would stop him; he probably wouldn't want to tell her his name.

The man seemed to be smiling at her, though it was hard to tell because of his mask. "Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake," his smile spread. "Your turn!"

Now the girl knew she was in trouble. She started fidgeting and tried not to make eye contact with any member of the group while trying to think of a name, any name. "I'm," she paused and sighed deeply. "I call myself Uzume." She spotted Naruto's blue eyes fixing on her. She sighed again. "It's not my real name, but there's nothing you can do about that..."

Kakashi's relaxed features became suddenly suspicious, but Uzume didn't notice. She was looking at him again, her stare suddenly intense, awaiting his response. "Why is that?" his voice was full of confidence.

Uzume looked away again. She hadn't meant any harm; she just wanted to get close to that boy, the one whose name she still didn't know. "I-I" she hesitated. It was never this hard normally, just four simple words. "I lost my memory." Kakashi's expression softened slightly and he looked on Uzume with... pity? Or curiosity? Uzume couldn't tell but she didn't care, she just wanted to leave now. "Well, it's been fun..." She muttered, ducking out from under Kakashi's arm. "But, um, I'm needed elsewhere..."

She turned to leave but a cry of surprise stopped her. She turned slightly to glance over her shoulder and see Naruto, grinning like the idiot he is, holding up her headband in one hand, the other hand firmly gripping her bag. She blinked for a moment before starting towards him. "You're a leaf ninja! Like us, see?" he grinned, pointing at his own headband in proof. Kakashi and the other boy exchanged a knowing glance behind Uzume's back. She paused, glaring at Naruto for a few seconds. "Whoa! Wasn't expecting this!" He yelped in surprise, pulling out a beaten up and bloodstained looking blue shirt with the symbol of a fan on the back. "Have you been stalking Sasuke?" He sniffed the fabric cautiously. "And do you ever wash this thing?!"

Uzume was very fast in snatching this from his grip. Behind her she felt the knowing glance between Kakashi and his student. "Look, I don't even know who Sasuke is but I am not a stalker!"

Kakashi was suddenly by her side again. "Ah you're right, I have been neglecting the other members of my team," he smiled slightly and turned her round. Once he was sure he had her attention he pointed at the dark haired boy. "That is Sasuke." Uzume looked away slightly embarrassed. Sasuke stared at her, looking as if he couldn't decided whether she was friend or foe. "And that is Sakura," Kakashi continued, pointing at the pink haired girl. Uzume waved slightly and Sakura waved back with much more confidence. "Quick question," Kakashi muttered, taking the shirt from Uzume's hands. "How did you come across this?"

Uzume glanced at it, looking distracted. "I woke up with it..." She saw Kakashi wanted more information so started thinking about what she could say. "First day in my memory, I woke up lying under a tree with that shirt on and the headband that Naruto took out of my bag... I must have gotten on the wrong side of someone, I was a little... Injured let's say."

Kakashi had been reading while Uzume was talking and she wasn't one hundred percent sure that he had heard her. She thought about asking him but then he turned the page and sighed slightly. "When you say 'the first day in my memory' that means it isn't your first memory doesn't it...?" Uzume stayed silent and Kakashi nodded. "I thought so..." Uzume looked away. "This may be a strange question," he muttered. "But have you had any strange dreams?" Uzume's dark eyes flicked back to Kakashi very suddenly. He smiled behind his mask. "Let's go for lunch, you come too, my treat."

Kakashi's team and Uzume walked for a long time in silence. Even Naruto was quiet. Kakashi had spoken to him and Sakura in private before they left, leaving Uzume very curious, Sasuke was the one that kept on staring at her, though. She could feel his eyes on her back as they walked, but whenever she glanced back he was looking away. "Your dreams," Kakashi said quite suddenly. Uzume looked at him. "Would you tell me about them?"

Uzume thought for a while, uninterrupted; then slowly nodded. "They are more of what you would classify as nightmares really," she decided to start with that. "You see I'm in the forest and I'm about," she paused to think. "I must be about five or six years old, I don't know, very young anyway. I'm with other Ninja and we are all fighting together... Something goes wrong and lots of people die, I start running then I wake up." She sighed. "Always the same dream, so vivid that I can almost believe it's real."

Naruto and Sakura started staring at her too. Kakashi scratched his nose. "And in this dream, your all fighting one thing aren't you, I don't mean one group of other ninja, I mean one living thing," he asked. Uzume blinked and nodded. "In your dreams, does a giant demon fox feature? One with nine tails?" Naruto's jaw was about to drop but Sakura hit him before it did. Uzume noticed but tried to ignore it. They had all stopped walking and everyone was staring either at her or Kakashi. Two of the students doubted their sensei's guess but one didn't. One student was waiting for the answer because of what it could mean. Slowly, Uzume nodded.


	2. 2 Ghosts of the past

**I honestly don't know how long this is.. but it is so much fun to write! I hope you like it! Reviews are welcome but you don't have to if you don't want to **

Kakashi took Uzume and his team to eat after they had found out about her dreams. It was strange but Uzume trusted them. They ate, mostly in silence... except for Naruto. Eventually Kakashi coughed slightly to get her attention. He hadn't wanted anything to eat, said he had eaten earlier. "Is there anything else you want to tell me about your dreams?" he asked. Uzume thought for a few minutes, there were many things she could tell him, but few she wanted too. Eventually she shook her head. "Ok, different question; why were you following us?"

Uzume nearly choked on her food, which was the first hot meal in a long while. She hit her chest slightly in hopes of helping the food move on. "Well," she started, thinking. She knew this question was coming; really she was surprised it hadn't come before hand but that didn't help things. "When I lost my memory I decided to try and get it back." Kakashi nodded for her to continue so she ate some more, thinking about whether just to tell her whole story. "I found out quiet early on that I was probably a ninja before, I could do lots of fighting moves without fully remembering how I was taught them. After I realised that I decided to watch some small ninja groups in hopes of recognising one member, I usually moved on after a day." She looked at Kakashi and noticed that Sasuke and Sakura had stopped eating to listen. "Your group was different."

Kakashi nodded, thinking. As soon as Uzume looked away he exchanged another knowing glance with Sasuke. "It seems to me that you were a ninja, at least once when you were younger," he noted, beginning to read his book again. Uzume smiled a little, not making eye contact. "I think you were in the battle against the nine-tailed fox, you most likely lost your memory because of what you saw." Uzume choked again.

"But Kakashi-sensei," Sakura suddenly cut in. Kakashi looked like he had forgotten she was there but looked over to her with interest. "Uzume can only be, at most, nineteen... maybe twenty. That means she must have been about six at the time of the Nine-tailed fox attack, she couldn't have fought," Sakura paused. "Unless, she was a genius," she finished.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and leaned back. "For a child to turn out to be a genius seems to be fairly common," he sighed, looking at Sakura in a slightly bored way. "There is me, Shikamaru, Itachi..." His list was interrupted by one loud clatter and one sharp intake of breath. Glancing along the table, Sasuke's food had been knocked to the floor and Uzume had gone completely stiff. "Are you two ok?" Kakashi asked, not sounding completely concerned.

"Itachi," gasped Uzume. Sasuke had moved to pick up the dish he had knocked to the floor but paused to look at her questioningly after she said the name. Everyone was staring at her as she gazed forwards eyes unseeing. She blinked a few times and looked down. "I'm sorry, it's just, that name," she muttered.

"You recognise it?" Kakashi asked, forgetting his momentary argument with Sakura to help prove another theory in his head. Uzume nodded, silently wishing she had never met these people. She had once wanted her memory back but if Kakashi's suspicions were true she didn't want to know. Naruto hadn't heard anything that was going on, simply he ordered more food. Kakashi looked at him. "You know, I'm not treating you too," he whispered. Naruto yelped and even Sasuke laughed a little. Kakashi paused in his reading, glancing at Uzume. "Why don't you stay here in Konoha for a while?" he asked, smiling. "Sasuke has more than enough room."

Uzume finished eating before answering. She looked at Sasuke, who looked back. She couldn't help but wonder what him and Kakashi thought they knew about her. "Sure," she shrugged looking away.

Kakashi smiled again and got up to pay for the meal, including, to Naruto's great relief, Naruto's. "Well, I have to go, things to do," Kakashi said starting to walk away. "You guys have the rest of the day off." He waved over his shoulder and disappeared round the corner.

"Come on," Sasuke sighed, tugging at Uzume's arm. "I might as well take you to see where you're going to sleep." They walked in silence. Uzume decided she liked Sasuke, mainly because he was quiet but his eyes annoyed her; she wanted to know what he had seen. It wasn't her place to ask but she was still curious. Sasuke was obviously just as curious about her as she was about him but he didn't say anything. Silence suited them both perfectly fine. Uzume let her mind wander, she wasn't really watching where she was going and Sasuke had to make sure she didn't walk into things. "We're here," he muttered eventually.

Uzume came out of her thoughts very quickly and looked around. Her eyes widened. This place, she had been to this place. For the first time in her life, a memory came to her. She could see people, men and women, boys and girls; everyone that she had ever known from before her memory vanished. A girl of about twelve ran up to her and Uzume knew who she was immediately. The dark hair resembled Uzume's own but was shorter and choppier. Uzume froze as she looked at the girl who grinned and ran past; Uzume's best friend. "All the people that lived here..." she muttered, not really to anybody.

"Dead," Sasuke sighed back and turned to her. He blinked; Uzume had gone pale and was shaking. "Uzume?" He wandered forward and put a hand on her shoulder but she pulled away, fixing wild eyes on him. "Uzume?!"

"Dead," She repeated blankly, tears forming in her eyes. Sasuke stared at her, starting to panic himself because he didn't know what was happening or what to do. "All my life I hoped," she muttered, staring past him at people that weren't really there. "All my life I 

only wanted to find them..." The tears that had formed in her eyes began to trickle down her face, first slowly then faster. "And they're dead."

Sasuke didn't know what to say, he just stared as Uzume shook her head and turned away. Then she started running. "Hey, wait!" Sasuke yelled breaking out of his moment of shock. Uzume didn't stop, she ran faster. Sasuke ran after her, eventually catching up. "Wait, you don't need to run," he said to her, just managing to keep pace. She looked away from him. Sasuke would have sighed if he wasn't concentrating on running. He tried to calm her down a few more times but it didn't work so he hit her hard in the back of the head. Her eyes widened for a moment, then shut as she fell unconscious.

Sasuke caught her easily. _Now what,_ he thought. He picked her up in both arms and decided to go see Sakura and ask if she had a bed to spare. Taking Uzume back to his place was a bad idea. He walked to Sakura's house quickly, trying to avoid attention of passersby and trying to think of what to do next. When he eventually got there, he found he didn't have any hands to spare but somehow managed to knock on the door anyway. Sakura answered the door and seemed about to faint, either because of what she saw or that fact that Sasuke knew where she lived. "S-S-Sasuke," she stammered. Then she took in the sight of an unconscious Uzume in his arms. "What did you do?"

"Look Sakura, can she stay here? Just until I find Kakashi-sensei and tell him what happened," he asked, not bothering to guess the answer. Sakura heisitated then disappeared from the doorway for a few minutes.

She reappeared moments later. "Yeah she can stay for a while," she said, letting Sasuke in and showing him to a spare room. They lay Uzume down on the bed and Sasuke, knowing that finding Kakashi probably wouldn't be easy, asked Sakura for help. "Ok then," she said blushing. Sasuke rolled his eyes. They both split up to look for their sensei even though Sasuke had a pretty good idea of where he would be.


	3. 3 Always Late

**Sorry this took so long and um cliff hanger-haters... sorry! Im just genrally sorry for anything wrong with this chapter, 'k?**

**Please review! Me and my friend Ghosty are writing this, but it wont let me put a link :(**

**I'll try again next time, enjoy!**

It was hard for Uzume to eventually open her eyes. She was on top of a bed in a house that she didn't know. She sat up, way too fast and suddenly felt very dizzy. She clutched her head lightly, it felt like she had one hell of a hangover but she didn't remember drinking anything. She shut her eyes tightly and waited for it to pass. When it did she opened them again and looked around. Kakashi was standing in one corner of the room, reading to himself, but he obviously knew she was awake. Sakura was already leaning over her and offering her a drink of water. "What happened? How'd I get here?" Uzume muttered.

"We aren't entirely sure on the details of 'what happened,' Sasuke didn't seem sure himself, but he brought you here," Kakashi answered unhelpfully from the corner. Uzume thought about what he had said then what had happened came flooding back to her and she fell back onto the bed groaning. "Remember now?" Kakashi asked. Uzume nodded, eyes shut. "Care to tell me?"

Sighing she opened her eyes and sat up again, this time taking the drink Sakura offered. "My family..." Uzume started but found it hard to say. All her life the one thing that kept her going was that she might meet them and they were... Kakashi nodded at her, but Uzume didn't want to go on. She took a deep breath and started again. "My family and friends, everyone I used to know, I saw them," she managed to force out eyes examining the bed she was sitting on. "Then Sasuke said that everyone who had lived there were..." She stopped there her mind yelling out at the loss of those she wanted to get back too.

"The Uchiha clan," Kakashi mused, staring at her. Uzume seemed to look blank but now she just stared out of the window as the birds occasionally flew past. There was complete silence. Kakashi was lost, deep in thought yet somehow still managing to read the book in his hands. Sakura was examining the back of Uzume's head where there seemed to be a nasty injury.

"It was Sasuke," Uzume muttered, stopping Sakura dead and after a moment making her mumble something about how the injury wasn't so bad after all. Again there was complete silence.

Kakashi stopped reading for a few minutes and looked out the window. "I've forgotten something..." he muttered, staring into space. Then he shrugged. "It will come to me." Uzume stared at him not seeing clearly. Eventually her eyes wandered to the window to watch the outside worlds move by without her. It was peaceful to be forgotten, outside the outside world. She tried to relax while Sakura continued to fuss over the injury despite the fact it 'wasn't as bad as she thought'.

There was a loud knock at the door and after a pause it slowly opened. Uzume glanced at it to see Sasuke looking a little out of place standing there. She gave him a weak smile which he returned, just as weak, if not weaker than hers. Kakashi paused to glance up at him as well and Sakura acted like a normal fangirl and started asking a million and one questions in the space of five seconds. Sasuke ignored her. "I came to see how it went," Sasuke muttered, not really to anyone in particular. Sakura shut up immediately and everyone glanced at each other. The message they were sending was obvious; how _what_ went.

Then Kakashi chuckled lightly in the corner. "That's what I forgot, I was meant to take you to see the Hokage once you woke up..." he paused to check the time and chuckled again. "That was meant to be two hours ago, latest..."

Uzume stared at the laid back jonin in slight surprise. He was two hours late for a meeting with the leader of his village... and he was laughing. She sighed slightly and let herself fall back down onto the bed. "I'm always late for things anyway," she muttered shutting her eyes. "And if we are late, we might as well enjoy it," she said, yawning. Sasuke stared at her and she opened one eye to look at him.

"Come on," Sakura smiled pulling her into a sitting position. Uzume moaned something about five more minuets which was pointedly ignored. Eventually Sakura managed to get her up. "You can't be any later, go on!" Uzume grunted a reply as she was pushed out into the street which was lost to the noise around her. Kakashi was beside her in a second looking slightly amused at Sakura's efforts to turn back time and make them early.

"Sakura," Kakashi began but the door was shut behind them before any more protests could be heard. He sighed and looked at Uzume, who was staring at him in interest. "We're late anyway, might as well walk," he muttered starting off. Uzume followed in silence still staring at him. She could guess what had happened to make Sasuke so hurt and quiet, his family was dead it wasn't that hard to see. But Kakashi had the pain hidden in him as well and the curiosity was eating away at her.

She was good at guessing things; it was easy when you had some knowledge to back up your claim. She started thinking about everything she knew about Kakashi, which wasn't much. She remembered the first time she saw him and his team, the way he looked at them was as if he was remembering, especially with Naruto and Sasuke. An idea had formed in her mind but she was unsure of it and had no way of backing it up for once. "What happened to him," she asked hoping this would confirm or disprove her choice. Kakashi paused and glanced back at her, they both stopped walking. "You're friend," she muttered beginning to regret asking. "What happened?"

Kakashi continued to stare at her; he looked as if he was thinking. Then he looked away and started walking again, opening his book at the page he was on. "How about I tell you when I know you better, 'k?" he asked but it wasn't really a question. Uzume sighed and followed him in silence, letting him read. She let herself fall into deep thought about Kakashi and Sasuke, letting idea's cross her mind about what happened to them then discarding them when a better, more likely one came along.

She didn't realise they were there until Kakashi pulled her into an office with an old man sitting inside it. She realised this must be the Hokage and decided against insulting him in any way possible. The Hokage looked up when they entered and gazed at Uzume. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Is this her Kakashi?" he asked.

"Yes this is Uzume," Kakashi answered putting one hand on her shoulder. Uzume shuddered, she didn't like being touched. Kakashi started smiling and closed his book suddenly. "And I am very sure that my suspicions are right and she is in fact Uchiha." That made her avert her gaze and start thinking again about all those people, all of them, dead. Then the question hit her that she should have asked right away _how?_ How did her friends and family die?

**next update will hopefully be by saturday the 10th of may**


	4. 4 Nothing to something

**Ok very overdue, sorry I got the date wrong, I've been Ill and had school and stuff so yeah...**

**Forgive me?**

**Please review.**

Uzume wanted to scream, just scream as loud as she could to the world, her family was dead and she didn't know how it happened. Uzume tried not to break down, she tried so hard, feeling the confusion rising inside her and breathing deep to stop it causing panic. The Hokage must have noticed. "I'm sure you have some questions, but let me try to explain first then you can ask any questions left unanswered." Uzume took that as a personal challenge momentarily forgetting her family. "Your cousin, Itachi, maybe you have already heard of him, massacred everyone..." Things suddenly clicked into place a little in her mind, finally what had made Sasuke the way he was, was clear. But then another question rose to the front of her mind. "If you were Sasuke's sister he would remember you, but he doesn't so you can only be his cousin, too young for anything else."

Uzume paused; everything she had wanted to be told had been, in two sentences. She was determined to ask a question now but just couldn't think of one. "How many rooms are there in the hospital?" She finally came out with, almost smiling. Kakashi chuckled.

"I don't know what level you are at as a ninja, but you can take the jonin exams in two weeks so we can find out," the Hokage said sighing slightly and acting like he hadn't heard. "You can go now." Uzume smiled slightly before she left, noticing Kakashi deciding to stay behind. Things that she couldn't hear must be being discussed. This wouldn't have bothered her, except the way Kakashi glanced at her on her way out made Uzume think they must be discussing her.

Outside she stretched in the evening air. It was a lovely evening with the sun just beginning to set and dying the sky with beautiful purples and reds. It had been such a short day with so much inside it. Sighing in bliss with the idea that it must be nearing its end, Uzume began to wander through the village. She rarely had the chance to do this in the past, too much chance of missing her aims. In her calm state she didn't notice Sasuke until she walked straight into him. She paused to stare at him slightly, he looked like he had been out for a while... this wasn't an accident. "My mistake," she muttered softly before fixing him with a look demanding explanation.

"I was looking for you," Sasuke said coolly, ignoring the stare. Then he seemed a little lost for words and look past Uzume, somewhere over her right shoulder. "Are we related?" he asked after a moment. Strange how so few words could catch her breath so quickly; all those people, and because of Itachi. She nodded, choking. He seemed to smile but that could easily have been a trick of the light. "That's, um... great."

"I'm sorry by the way," she muttered softly, staring straight into Sasuke's eyes for once. "About your loss, your family... I hardly remember them... I'm sorry about what happened..." she smiled grimly in the fading light. "I know how you feel."

Sasuke looked away from her breaking the momentary eye contact. "You don't know how I feel, I lost everyone... to, him," he paused as if unable to call Itachi 'brother' any longer. "You don't remember them so how are you supposed to know even half of what it felt like?" He looked down at the ground, struggling to keep his temper controlled. But then he heard Uzume speak again, hardly above a whisper.

"I know what it feels like to have nothing," she hissed. "I might not know how it feels to go from something to nothing but I understand the feeling like there should be something there that isn't, and I knew what it was. I have seen family's together, happy and understanding. Maybe they weren't always there for their children but they were _there_. I never had that. And I have lost things today; before I had a small hope of meeting those that were supposed to be there for me again, but now? Nothing, like always." Sasuke looked up at her; he was sure for a second her eyes were deep red, no less than that, half a second? Or had he imagined it? "And I know what it's like to lose the person closest to you; I have every single night since I was tiny." She shook her head slightly eyes flashing away from him again, at last losing her intense stare. "Don't test me Sasuke," she muttered coldly. Before Sasuke could respond to this she walked past him, eyes now fixed straight in front herself, determined to get some training in before the day was over.

Sasuke stared after her for a few seconds, putting things together. There was something Uzume hadn't told any of them and it was running around repeatedly in Sasuke's mind. Who was she losing every night? And her eyes, they had gone red, that could have been the sharingan but she didn't seem to notice she had done it... and it was less than a second. He hesitated, he wasn't usually unsure of himself but when it came to someone that didn't remember anything it was hard to be sure about them. He paused letting his mind sort itself out before going to find Kakashi and ask some questions.

Uzume felt herself heating up and shut her eyes determinedly before throwing another random punch at a tree. She had decided to find a place in the forest around the village to practise. She was working herself harder than normal, anger about Sasuke and flashes of her dreams forcing her to go to, and probably over, her limit. She opened her eyes again and drew back from the tree. She had done a fair bit of damage to all the trees surrounding her but she didn't seem finished. She was panting lightly as her eyes wandered up a tree far to her left and to look at the man sitting in it. She had no idea how long he had been there but she didn't really care. It was Kakashi; she knew she had been alone for a while so it was probably Sasuke said something was wrong.

Kakashi didn't meet her eye; in fact he hardly looked like he knew she existed as he continued reading his book. Uzume stretched, watching him. She had learned a few things while she had been travelling alone. Blinking silently, she flipped backwards and out of the clearing, her hands touching the ground lightly half way through and carrying her onwards. She hadn't made a sound. Cautiously she walked slowly around the clearing to where Kakashi sat on his tree. He wasn't reading anymore, he was looking at the spot where she had left the clearing. "Why were you watching me," she asked softly.

Kakashi didn't jump; he looked at her slowly for a few second before smiling. "Somebody can be quiet when they want to be," he grinned, flipping out of his tree to stand next to her. Uzume didn't reply; she hated people watching her train. She always felt like they were planning to attack her or something. Kakashi saw her face and dropped his smile. "I was watching you for two reasons," he muttered putting his book in his pocket. "One, the Hokage told me to keep an eye on you until we find out who you are, two, Sasuke found me on my way here and told me some of the things you said to him and three, if you watch my team surely I am allowed to watch you."

"That was three things," Uzume said smiling again. "If you have been told to watch me by the Hokage I guess I can't stop you," she sighed pulling out a kunai. Kakashi stared at it for a few moments, evidently not trusting her completely. She laughed and threw the kunai at a target she had drawn on a tree. "Relax; if I was going to attack you I would have done it by now." Kakashi was now staring at the target on the tree. He felt like he had been to this exact clearing before. He wouldn't have minded the feeling, but he didn't know when he had been here before. "Besides," Uzume muttered wandering over and pulling her weapon out of the centre. "I wouldn't be much of a match for you, I hardly remember any attacks." She yawned and looked up. The moon was shining overhead. She paused for a few minutes staring at it. "Do you know where I'll be staying?" she asked slowly.

"We think now that you have already had a bad reaction with Sasuke's place that you are over the worst of it, you will be sleeping there," Kakashi muttered still staring at the tree.

Uzume paused. "I think I remember my way there, yes," she smiled. "Ok, I'm going to go to bed, I'll see you." With no more than that, Uzume started off towards bed but paused on her way out of the clearing, gently spinning the kunai around one finger. She shrugged and threw it at the tree again; then left before she could see if it hit.

**I'm not promising the next date, my time on the P.C is limited.**


	5. 5 Face to face

**Ok, this chapter is nearly twice as long as what I normaly write so I deserve some credit! More so seeming as this is so soon after the last update but I'm enjoying writing this so more will be coming very soon... I hope... Anyhow, please reveiw, you don't have to but I would really like it if you did, they make me write faster, they make me happy.**

**Enjoy :)**

Uzume woke screaming a name to the night. She paused not understanding where she was or why it was so dark. Then she remembered that she was not five years old and was perfectly safe. Sighing she pushed herself up into a sitting position and examined the dark room. After a few seconds she got up, sighing, and walked to the kitchen to get something to drink.

She met Sasuke in the kitchen; he was sitting, both hands clutching a glass of water. Uzume paused to look at him. His eyes were red rimmed as if he had just been crying and he looked like he had just woken from a bad dream. She smiled, got a glass of water for herself then sat down opposite him. For a while they didn't say anything. "Sasuke were you crying?" Uzume suddenly asked, taking a sip of water.

"Were you screaming?" he replied looking down.

Uzume smiled. "Ah touché," she grinned. Sasuke looked away from her as she ran one finger around the top of her glass. "Bad dream?" she asked, he nodded numbly. She sighed slightly and took some more water. They were silent again for a while, neither wanting to say any more about their dreams.

"Uzume," Sasuke muttered looking up again. "Who's Aiko?" Uzume choked a little, halfway through drinking. She coughed and hit her chest lightly while staring at Sasuke slightly confused. "It's just you were screaming in your sleep, 'Aiko, no Aiko its ok, I'm sorry Aiko please don't die'." Uzume didn't make eye contact for a while, staring into her glass as if the meaning of life was inside it.

Sasuke thought that he must have chanced upon a delicate subject and looked away again. "Aiko was my best friend when I was younger," Uzume muttered thinking about her dreams. "She died in the nine-tailed fox attack." Sasuke stared at her. She sighed and finished her water before getting up. "I'm going back to bed, it's very late," she muttered.

"But," Sasuke paused, knowing about nightmares from experience. "Won't your nightmares come back if you go back to sleep?"

She smiled at him over her shoulder. "Yes they will, and I bet they'll be much worse this time." At Sasuke's look of confusion she smiled again. "I find the best way to get over guilt is to face it head on, and if that means having nightmares then I'll have nightmares." Then she wandered off, back to bed where she fell asleep again and suffered the nightmares, worse than ever.

Sasuke sat at the table, not wanting to return to the world of hate inside his dreams. He thought about what Uzume had said, and what would have happened if things had played out differently. He didn't take his eyes off the table letting his dreams play out in his head over and over again. Day broke and he didn't notice but he did notice when the screaming started again. "No, Aiko!!" Uzume's voice cut out suddenly and Sasuke guessed she was awake again. Sure enough she appeared in the kitchen a few seconds later. She smiled at him weakly before sorting herself some food and sitting down opposite him. "Did you ever go back to sleep?" she asked. Sasuke shook his head. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"Thinking," he muttered still staring at the table. She stared at him, demanding more information silently. "Thinking about what you said; maybe if I had come home earlier the night Itachi killed everyone I-"

"Could have died along with them," Uzume muttered no sympathy in her voice. Sasuke looked up at her. "Or worse," she wasn't smiling anymore. "I know telling you not to feel guilty is useless, because it's the same with me but 'if' is a dangerous word Sasuke." Sasuke blinked. She smiled at him again and stretched polishing off her breakfast. "What about you? You hungry?" Sasuke shook his head. "Tough you're eating!" She went and quickly found him some food before handing it to him and watching to make sure he ate.

"But I'm not hungry!" Sasuke yelped, seeing her eyes narrow he realised she wasn't taking no for an answer. He ate the food quietly, still thinking about his family and what he could have done. Uzume pulled out a kunai and began fiddling with it. As Sasuke finished he noticed she had a faraway look on her face and was gazing at one wall as if it wasn't there. "We should go soon," he muttered startling her. "We are late already, mind you not as late as Kakashi-sensei."

Uzume sighed and got up. "Sure lets go then," she smiled at him weakly again. They left for the bridge and Uzume couldn't help but think of something that had been bothering her, Sasuke had told Kakashi they had spoken yesterday. "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday," she mumbled making Sasuke look up at her. "I wasn't being very sensitive I just felt so angry with you for not understanding." He nodded in acceptance.

Naruto and Sakura were already there when she arrived with Sasuke. "Kakashi always this late?" she asked. All three nodded. Uzume sighed and glanced at her watch, it was half ten.

Kakashi had no idea what time it was. He was in the clearing where Uzume had been training the day before, examining the target. It wasn't drawn on the tree like he first thought but was carved deeply into the wood and the amount of small holes where a kunai had hit were far too many for the amount of time Uzume had spent there. He sighed and drew back, looking around the rest of the clearing; somebody had obviously been there before, and used in as a training ground like Uzume had.

He hesitated before slowly walking round the edge of the clearing trying to remember the last time he had been here before Uzume. Finally it came to him. A small girl he had once known had trained there. She had trained here because she didn't like people watching her. He smiled, the girl used to let him watch her and help her; she was always keen to learn more. He sighed thinking about her; that girl could have made a great ninja someday. He paused before leaving the clearing again, still thinking about the girl. He met up with his team and Uzume soon after, it was early for him, only half eleven. They didn't have a mission that day and were just going to train with each other.

Nobody knew what they should expect from Uzume, after all only Kakashi had seen her train and he wasn't telling anybody anything. Over the past day Naruto and Sakura had become very curious of the new comer to the village and Naruto felt even more left in the dark when he found out that Uzume had stayed in Sakura's house the previous day.

Uzume watched them fighting each other for a while but showed no sign of intending to train herself. She simply sat down by a tree and watched with curiosity. After a moment she got up silently and with one final glance at the team, wandered out of sight. Sasuke was first to notice her disappearance but didn't say anything. Instead he got to thinking, Uzume had mentioned feeling guilty when she was talking about her nightmares, but as far as Sasuke knew she had no reason to feel like that. There was something that she had managed to tiptoe 'round when they had been talking. He told Naruto that he needed a break, which caused many attempts at being annoying, but Sasuke ignored them.

He wandered over to where Kakashi was fighting with Sakura and tapped him on the shoulder. "There is something I need to talk to you about," he muttered, refusing to look at the startled Sakura or Naruto. Kakashi took one look at Sasuke, glanced at where Uzume had been sitting then agreed. Naruto and Sakura teamed up and Sasuke went with Kakashi, just out of earshot. "I spoke to Uzume last night, she woke up from a nightmare," Sasuke began. "She had been shouting in her sleep about someone called Aiko."

Kakashi looked away from Sasuke at that point to glance off to their right; if they listened they could hear the sounds of somebody training on their own. "Who's Aiko?" Kakashi asked.

"I asked her, she said Aiko was her best friend when she was younger," then he was forced to stop by the worry that had started eating away at him. "Before Uzume went back to sleep, she said 'I find the best way to deal with guilt is to face it head on, and if that means having nightmares then I'll have nightmares.'" Kakashi's and Sasuke's eyes met for a moment.

"Tell Naruto and Sakura that they can have the rest of the day off," Kakashi muttered looking over to where Uzume was obviously training. Before Sasuke could answer, Kakashi disappeared.

Uzume was fighting the trees in the same clearing as before when Kakashi appeared, standing horizontally on a tree. She knew exactly when he arrived this time and stopped training immediately. "Is there something you want?" She asked coldly, not enjoying having been disturbed again.

"No, no," Kakashi said with a smile. "Just Sasuke told me about Aiko." Uzume grunted and attacked the trees with renewed force. "She must have died a long time ago," Kakashi continued watching her mounting anger. "You must be over that by now."

"What?" Uzume hissed not looking at him. "The one person I can remember caring about, and I should be over their death by now? Are you insane or is it just an act?" She pulled out a long thin katana before attacking the trees again.

"Oh no, I am insane," Kakashi said merrily, pulling out his book again and starting to read. "Completely insane, one hundred percent." He heard Uzume's grunt of annoyance and couldn't help but wonder if his plan was working. Sasuke had told him before that when he made Uzume very angry her eyes had seemed to go red. "Also, having nothing for as long as you can remember," Kakashi continued trying to make her as angry as possible. "It can't be that bad, you have nothing to compare the nothing to, if you get my meaning."

Uzume wasn't facing him; she was attacking the tree as if it were her worst enemy. Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of her making her almost fall over. "Ah, I see," Kakashi said staring deep into her eyes. They had gone a dark red as she activated the sharingan and it slowly went up in level. "Well, I-" He had been about to apologise when he realised what he was seeing. The sharingan progressed until it changed to the mangekyo sharingan. Kakashi paused, staring at her eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said about your friend and your life," he murmured looking away. "If I had meant any of it I would be the world's biggest hypocrite."

He left before anything could be said but Uzume had grown very confused. "Uzume?" Sasuke's voice called out and he ran into the clearing. "Are you coming or-" he paused to stare at her eyes. As soon as Kakashi left the sharingan and started to deactivate. "Uzume your eyes," Sasuke muttered staring at her. "Turn them off."

Now that Sasuke had said something, Uzume could feel a very small amount of Chakra being focused into her eyes. She paused half hopeful before whispering; "In a close them kind of way?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No, in a stop focusing chakra into them kind of way," He smiled weakly as Uzume tried to stop the flow. It was much harder than it should have been; due to the fact that Uzume was out of practise at focusing chakra at all, stopping it was a nightmare and took her several minutes. She shut her eyes to help her concentrate and eventually deactivated the sharingan. She opened her eyes again and looked at Sasuke who smiled a little. "Better," he muttered.

Uzume grinned. "Thanks," she whispered. "Yeah I'm coming."

Kakashi thought to himself as he walked away from the clearing. The main thoughts running through his head were always the same; how had Uzume gotten the sharingan and should he tell Sasuke? He knew he should but not how to or when, sighing he pulled some kunai out of his pocket. He would go and find them later and say that Sasuke had forgotten these, maybe Uzume would still be mad enough at him to leave the room.


	6. 6 Murder?

**yay I'm keeping up!!**

**ok not much to say... enjoy!**

Sasuke had grown extremely curious to Uzume's abilities; nobody but Kakashi had seen her train and the way she had watched the others, as if it amused her. He wanted to ask but felt that she would show her skill eventually. So mostly they just sat and talked about anything that they wanted. Uzume had lived a very interesting life since she woke up after the nine-tailed fox attack, mostly she had been trying to find things that sparked her memory but she needed money and was apparently quite an artist.

They ate lunch at the house, just whatever they could put together. Halfway through one conversation, Kakashi appeared. Uzume felt he eyes change and cursed lightly looking away and trying to make them normal. "I think I'm going to go and train for a bit," she whispered, hardly keeping her displeasure at Kakashi's appearance out of her voice.

"I came to give you these," Kakashi said watching Uzume leave and holding up the kunai he had taken out earlier. "You left them behind." Sasuke took the kunai just as Uzume vanished out the door. "She has the mangekyo, just thought you should know," Kakashi said lightly. Sasuke didn't show his emotion to these words, he just stared for a few moments until Kakashi declared that he had to leave and disappeared from the spot.

Uzume came back a little later looking a little more tired than before, the sharingan once again successfully deactivated. "Is he gone?" she asked cautiously. Sasuke nodded numbly. She sighed in relief and sat down by the table. "Good, I know that he didn't mean what he said, but I'm still angry," she paused, "Are you ok?"

"Uzume," Sasuke muttered, remembering how awkward the night before had been. "Your friend Aiko," he paused seeing Uzume flinch before nodding. "How did Aiko die? I know you said she died in the nine-tailed fox attack but how exactly and," he gulped a little, "why do you feel guilty?"

"That, that's the same question," she stammered, eyes looking sad. "I don't remember all of it. We were running," Uzume muttered, mind returning to the dream she had every night so vividly. "There was complete confusion then I remember her falling and yelling to me, I stopped and went back but by the time I got there she couldn't talk anymore." Her gaze fell to the floor and she just held back tears, she had never told anyone before. "She was dying, it looked like her death was going to be slow and painful so I... I made it fast." Her voice hardened with the last few words. Sasuke didn't know what to say, she hadn't exactly murdered, it had been a mercy but he couldn't show relief after making her say that. "Maybe if a medic had found her and I hadn't killed her she would have survived."

Sasuke stared at her then going against all his normal impulses he hugged her tightly. She tensed up under his grip; she didn't like being touched. He pulled away suddenly, looking embarrassed. "Sorry," he mumbled. "The others were thinking of doing some training, I wasn't going to go but I might now, want to come with?" She nodded still a little confused by the hug. They left to meet up with Sakura and Naruto where they had been training earlier.

Like before Uzume made no move to join them, just sat and watched from a tree. Sasuke and Naruto had a quick fight but they stopped quickly, Sasuke evidently thought he was too good for Naruto. Uzume chuckled before getting up and walking over. Everybody stopped to see what she was doing. "I'll take you on Naruto," she said smiling, "that is if you think you can handle me."

Sasuke smirked and took up Uzume's old spot by the tree. "Of course I can beat you!" Naruto exclaimed grinning. "I'm going to be Hokage someday, so you better watch out!"

"Hokage...?" Uzume couldn't keep the amusement out of her voice. "Well you should have no problem with me then." She picked up a long stick from the ground and held it up to a sword she had at her side that none of them had seen before. "This is about right," she sounded a little apologetic. "I can't use my real sword, there is a very good chance I will kill you if I do, feel free to use real weapons if you like." She pulled the twigs and leaves off the branch before holding it ready. "Ok then, I'm ready."

A few minutes later, Naruto was pinned to the ground, Uzume sitting on his back and holding his head down, twirling the stick between her fingers. Kakashi arrived a little after that, he was supposed to meet them before they started but nobody really minded and he didn't give an excuse. Uzume didn't even notice him. "Say you give," she laughed at Naruto.

"Never!" Naruto yelled back, clawing at the ground. Kakashi stared at them, it was just like years ago, a young ninja, Moriko had been fighting with her cousin Itachi, she had pinned him down just like Uzume had Naruto and demanded that Itachi say he had given up.

"Say you give," Uzume repeated tapping the back of his head lightly with the stick. Naruto yelped and started clawing at the dirt again. She rolled her eyes. "Tell you what, rematch, if you win this time I'll agree that last time I just got lucky," she smiled.

"Your on! Believe it!" Naruto called back, getting up once Uzume had gotten off of him. She just smiled and tossed the stick back into her right hand. She nodded and Naruto ran forwards yelling at the top of his lungs. Uzume sighed and shook her head. At the very last second she stepped out of Naruto's way and hit his back with the stick.

"You did that last time Naruto," she sighed. By that time Naruto had turned around and was running at her again. Uzume blocked all the punches and kicks that came her way as if it was the easiest thing she had even done. After a while she got bored and struck for just the second time, she swung the stick low and brought Naruto crashing to the ground. She quickly sat on his back. "Say you give," she smiled.

"Never!" was Naruto's immediate response. Uzume rolled her eyes and insisted that Naruto give up.

Kakashi sensed danger and a long repetitive argument. He stepped out in front of Naruto before crouching down and holding out a coupon. "You know what this is Naruto?" He asked waving it from side to side. Naruto nodded his head vigorously. "A ramen coupon," Kakashi continued still holding it just out of reach. "Say you give and you can have it." Naruto looked suddenly confused and was obviously torn. "Naruto, the ramen..."

"Ok, ok I give!" Naruto yelled grabbing for the coupon. Uzume blinked before getting off him. He snatched the coupon before running away and out of sight.

Uzume shrugged away her confusion and made to sit down by her normal tree. Sasuke vacated it to train with Sakura mumbling something about beating Naruto with only a stick. She smiled a little as she sat down and watched them. Soon, Kakashi joined her, not saying anything, just reading his books. Uzume read the title, half asleep, but once she saw it she looked again. "I've heard of those books," she muttered. He nodded a little, not keen on being disturbed. "They, I mean... Aren't they _porn_?" Kakashi laughed a little before nodding again. "Oh," Uzume paused staring at him. "You just don't seem the type..."

"They're tasteful," he replied still reading. She laughed in disbelief and sat back against the tree, closing her eyes. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her before whispering in her ear, "I dare you to read the first one." Uzume's eyes snapped open and she nearly fell over where she was sitting. "Prove me wrong," Kakashi smirked. "Read the first book and prove they are as bad as you think."

There were a million things Uzume could have said to get out of it. She wasn't exactly interested in porn, in fact she was the opposite, and she thought it was one of the worst things in the world. But she had never been one to refuse a dare. "Deal," she hissed sitting up.

"Great, I don't have the first one with me but if you give me just a sec..." he vanished. Uzume shut her eyes and lay back, propped up on the tree, alone with her thoughts. Her life had changed completely within twenty four hours. It wasn't exactly what she had been expecting to happen when she finally found that one person or place that she was connected with but what had she really been expecting? The more she thought about it the less she seemed to have planned. Kakashi reappeared before her thoughts could lead anywhere. "Here you go," he smiled handing her a book.

Uzume held it in one hand, staring at the cover as if it was something that had come from a sick dog's rear end. Kakashi chuckled again before opening the book he was on at the page. Cautiously, she opened the book and started reading the first page.

She was lost in the plot within seconds; how could she ever think these books were disgusting, filthy things?! It was amazing just how quickly the book had grabbed her attention, she found herself wondering what would happen next even though she didn't want to let Kakashi know he was right. Sasuke had finished training before Uzume finished the first chapter. Sakura decided to head home but Sasuke came over. "Uzume..." he began but she cut him off with a grunt and waved him away. "Uzume," he said this time more firmly. "It's getting late we better head back, get something to eat." She sighed and closed the book with a snap.

"Kakashi mind if I borrow this?" she asked holding it up. Sasuke stared at the book, then Uzume and finally at Kakashi who was smiling again.

"No problem, go ahead," he replied. Uzume unwillingly smiled at him and said goodbye.


	7. 7 Tears to Shed

Uzume woke that night the same way she had the night before; screaming out Aiko's name. She paused for a time, sitting up in bed and thinking. A few nights ago she didn't even know if Aiko was a real person, now she knew that Aiko was a ninja that died in the nine-tailed fox attack. She hesitated; shouldn't Aiko's name be on a memorial stone? Then she thought longer about her dream. She was sure she could retrace her steps and find the place where Aiko died.

Uzume went to get a drink from the kitchen. Sasuke was already there, haunted by nightmares from his past too it seemed. She sat down opposite him again after getting her drink. They stared at each other. "Are you going back to sleep tonight?" she asked finally breaking the silence.

"Maybe," Sasuke dodged the question easily before staring down at the ground. "Yes," he decided. "You were right yesterday; the best way to deal with guilt is to face it head on." Uzume nodded. "You?" he asked suddenly.

"No," she spoke just above a whisper. "No, not tonight. I think I'll go for a walk." She met eyes with Sasuke for a few seconds before she looked away, slightly embarrassed. "Might go to the memorial stone if I can find it, if not I'll just wander, see where I end up." Sasuke continued to stare at her. She got up to go change into her normal outside clothes. When she came back Sasuke had gone. She sighed lightly and picked up a small snack to keep her going. Before she left she checked the time; 1.00 am. Plenty of time.

She did find the memorial stone; quickly too. She didn't go very close, just stared at it from a distance, so far that she couldn't read any of the names. Uzume felt hollow standing there. She only stayed for about an hour; that was when she decided that she would find where Aiko had died. That didn't take long either. She found the place easily, it hadn't changed much. Uzume stared at the ground and suddenly she was back, five years old and running. Aiko had been right behind her, they were going to make it, it wasn't far and they'd be safe. Then the scream came, the scream that still cut through Uzume's soul and froze what little hope she had had in an instant, made her suddenly think; what if we don't make it. Then she had turned round, came back and found her, found her lying right here.

Uzume didn't even notice that she was crying. The sun came up, dying the sky and painting the ground a deep blood red. No sympathy, that wasn't what Uzume ever wanted. She was a murderer. Aiko had had a chance, who was she to play fate. The sun continued to rise, colours changing from deep red to light blue but Uzume still stood there, staring at the ground and thinking of the friend she had lost. After a while she shook herself lightly and forced herself to move. It had to be past the time she was meant to meet the others, she was staying with them for a few days.

Eventually she did stir, slowly; she turned her back on the spot and headed for the bridge. On her way she passed the memorial and saw Kakashi there. She couldn't help but wonder if that had something to do with his best friend that he wouldn't talk about. "Now there are two of them," Sakura groaned when Uzume eventually got there.

"Yeah sorry about that," Uzume smiled and walked over to them. "I went for a walk and lost track of time." She stretched and yawned a little. "Did you guys see the sunrise, it was beautiful."

"A walk?" Sasuke asked suddenly curious. Uzume looked over to him her smile fading. "Not the one you went on at one in the morning? I thought that you had decided to stop in the village for breakfast or something." Everyone was staring at her now. Nobody bothered to ask Sasuke what _he_ was doing up at one in the morning.

Luckily Kakashi arrived at that moment. "Sorry I'm late I woke up this morning and realised my hair is grey," he offered in way of excuse. Uzume couldn't help but laugh; especially since Sakura and Naruto yelled out 'liar!' and Sasuke groaned. Her laughter seemed to annoy them more.

"Well it's better than your excuse," Sasuke responded in a monotone. Uzume slowly stopped laughing and shrugged.

"Ok then, if you want a random excuse that is obviously not true," she paused to think. "Right; Sorry I'm late, On my way here I decided to walk by the river when I saw something shinny in it, I decided to see what it was but I didn't want to get wet, so I devised an intricate and complicated pulley system to get it for me, then I realised that the shinny thing turned out to be just some old garbage and had to take time to take the pulley thing apart before coming here. Better?" She took a deep breath having said it all in one. Everyone stared at her, Kakashi chuckled. "Anyway... can I still tag along for today?"

Kakashi nodded and they set off. The team was cleaning out the river that day, which amused Uzume a little, probably because of her story. She just sat by a tree reading. Kakashi was suddenly beside her. "I couldn't help but notice that in your story, I mean excuse, that you said you didn't want to get wet... Does that mean you have forgotten how to walk on the surface of water?" Uzume blinked, and then nodded. "I see, well I guess I'll just have to teach you, again." He pulled her up so she was standing and went over to the water's edge.

The way he had said, 'again' had gotten Uzume thinking. He had said it as if he meant he had taught her before. "Kakashi," she muttered walking over to him. "The way you said 'again', what did you mean?"

He smiled. "Oh did I forget to mention, I think I know who you were," he took her hand lightly. "Now, focus your chakra, and step forwards." Uzume wasn't paying him much attention; he had just thrown her into a new world. He knew who she used to be?! But she did as he said, focused her chakra and stepped out onto the water's surface. For one hellish moment she thought it wasn't going to work and she was going to fall into the water; she wasn't a huge fan of water but could sometimes put up with it. But Kakashi was holding onto her arm firmly now and she continued to focus her chakra until she stepped again and realised, it was working.

It was so strange to be standing on the surface of the water without touching it. "Wow," she breathed staring down. Eventually when Kakashi was sure she had the hang of it, he let go and stepped away to watch. Uzume wasn't amazed for long and was soon doing a complicated looking series of flips and kicks to see if she could still stand on the surface in fighting conditions. She could. She smiled appreciatively to Kakashi before walking casually off the water and taking up position under her tree. He was soon beside her, reading again. She hesitated, suddenly remembering what Kakashi said. "So... who was I?"

"Well," Kakashi paused thinking of how to explain. "I'm still not sure if I'm right, wait, I might have a way of finding out." He stopped to think reading his book as he did. Uzume shrugged and pulled out the book he had lent her. Soon she was immersed in it again. "Moriko?"

"Yes," Uzume muttered instinctively before stopping dead and looking over the top of her book, gazing into space. "Moriko... that's, that was... I mean..." she was lost for words. Moriko, it had been her name, once. "That was my name, wasn't it...?"

Kakashi nodded, he looked as if he was purposefully not meeting her gaze. "Yes, you were a very promising ninja, when nobody found you after the nine-tailed fox attack we assumed the worst; so many weren't found that day." Uzume looked at him sadly but she detected something else in his eyes... mistrust. "But of course people change."

"You don't trust me," Uzume said still staring at him, her eyes no longer sad or sympathetic. "After me following you blindly for the last two days, after all you have made me go through... you don't trust me?" Kakashi didn't answer. He didn't even look at her. He just turned the page of his book. "How can you not trust me?"

"You have the mangekyo sharingan," he stated. Uzume stared at him blankly; she had the what now? He saw the look on her face and put his book away sighing, before crouching down in front of her. "When you are angry you focus chakra into your eyes which activates the Uchiha's unique blood trait, the sharingan, I'm sure you notice things when you have it active, well there are different stages of the sharingan. The final stage is the mangekyo sharingan, it can only be attained by killing the person you are closest too." He stood up again. "I don't know what happened but until you tell me I can't trust you."

Uzume stared at him, her mind racing. She had never forgotten her best friend, Aiko's death by her own sword but never had she thought it would mean so much. Slowly she looked down at the katana at her side. She often thought of throwing the sword away because of the pain it had caused her, but she told herself that the pain was her punishment and she deserved it, so she kept the sword. Kakashi watched her out the corner of his eye. She could tell he wanted her to tell him what had happened but after having told Sasuke the day before it felt unbearably hard to tell somebody else. "Her name was Aiko," she muttered eventually. "And yes, I killed her."

She didn't feel up to saying much else. Kakashi obviously wasn't going to let it rest at that, the Moriko he had known would never have just killed her friend and seeming as Uzume had been Moriko at the time. "Tell me exactly what happened," he ordered, but his voice was kind and he sat down beside her.

Uzume gulped back tears. "She fell," she muttered staring at the ground. "I'm not sure what happened but when I came back to her she was surrounded by her own blood and hardly able to speak." Her eyes flicked up and she stared forwards, towards where it all happened. "But she was in pain," she whispered. "I could see it, on her face."

"So you killed her," Kakashi finished following her gaze. She nodded quickly before looking away. She hadn't been in the mood for explanation. "I see..." He smiled at her, not an inappropriate smile, but a sad one. He put one hand on her shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly. "I know people probably never tell you," he said staring at her. He was never normally good at comforting people, probably because he was emotionally crippled himself but comforting an emotional cripple? He could do that, maybe. "It wasn't your fault, she was dying, painfully, you did a mercy." Uzume didn't answer, she continued to stare towards her friends final resting place, she had always thought that she had cried her eyes dry when she was young; but it seemed she still had some tears to shed.


	8. 8 Eight days

**Ok long overdue, crappy and slightly disconnected... VERY SORRY!! **

**I fell asleep halfway through so please don't blame me! I only finished recently and can't be bothered checking over it... Oh well, please review!**

Uzume hardly slept that night. She was thinking about everything she had done and wondering what could have happened if she had been running behind Aiko, not the other way around. At about three in the morning she gave up. Uzume knew she would regret that decision later that day but decided if she couldn't get to sleep she shouldn't bother trying; she was the type of person that believed everything happens for a reason.

Sitting up she clutched her head and groaned softly. She couldn't remember the last time she hadn't slept at all. Sighing Uzume got up and changed into day clothing. She couldn't stop thinking about Aiko. All of Uzume's life so far had been spent wandering from place to place, trying to stay out of trouble and trying to learn who she might be. Now, she didn't want to know.

Slowly she stumbled to the kitchen and didn't hesitate before leaving and walking out into the night. It was a cool night with a cold breeze cutting across it. The sky looked grey and cloudy with the promise of rain later on. Uzume wandered without paying much attention to where she was going. It wasn't much of a surprise to here when she reached the memorial stone again. Another figure was standing there when she arrived. She stared at their back. It was insanely early, nobody should be up yet. Uzume paused, not knowing if she should stay but she stepped forwards anyway and stood beside him. Her eyes searched the stone for Aiko's name. "You're out early Kakashi," she muttered, finding the name at last. Kakashi didn't reply. "Who are you here for?"

"Several people," he replied vaguely, still staring at the stone. For a long while neither of them spoke. Uzume had eyes only for Aiko's name as if she had been hypnotised to not look at anything else. "There's your name," Kakashi whispered, pointing at a name a little above Aiko's. Uzume chuckled a little seeing it. "We're going to have to get that removed."

"Yeah," she agreed. They were silent again for a long time. "You're going to be late for meeting your team," Uzume muttered. Kakashi nodded a little and moved away from the stone a bit. "I'm not coming today," she said before he could ask. "I'm going to look around the village for a bit." He nodded before he went to meet Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Uzume stood there a bit longer before she could tear herself away. She wandered aimlessly into the village but didn't speak to anyone; she wasn't the type of person to bring up conversation for no reason.

She tried to detach herself from people and found somewhere quiet where she could sit on her own. Since she knew what the headband she had carried with her for years meant she had decided to put it on, and tied it around one leg so that it was visible but not easily noticed. Sitting in the shade, Uzume gently touched a bandage that covered her upper arm and began to wonder why nobody had asked about it. "Excuse me but are you Moriko Uchiha?" a voice interrupted her thoughts. Uzume glanced up at the use of her 'real' name and met the interested gaze of a stranger.

She had seen him once or twice around the village but had never said hello. He had a kind face with a single scar running over his nose. Uzume didn't feel like smiling but managed one anyway. "I suppose you could call me that, but I prefer Uzume," she answered. The man smiled at her. "And who are you?"

"Oh yes, sorry… My name is Iruka," he said still smiling. Uzume nodded, not sure what to say. She didn't like people, well that wasn't exactly it; she just liked being alone more. "I just wanted to thank you for sparring with Naruto, not many people like to you see." She nodded again, smiling lightly and looking past the strange happy ninja to the land behind him. Judging from the sun and the time, Aiko had died somewhere far to her left. Iruka saw her eyes drift in that direction. "Are you ok Uzume? You don't seem very happy."

People had asked about Aiko so many times that Uzume had become numb to talking about it and no longer felt any pain when saying her name. "I was just thinking about my friend Aiko," she said without betraying the guilt she felt about her friend's death. "She died several years ago."

"Oh dear," Iruka said looking sadly at her. "I'm sorry to hear that." Uzume nodded again. They stayed silent for a while, Iruka studying her calmly. "Please cheer up," he said. She smiled falsely in response.

"I think I might go for a walk," she muttered getting up and meeting Iruka's gaze for the first time. "It's been nice meeting you Iruka; I hope to see you again soon." Then Uzume left. She was tired from not having slept the night before but she tried not to let it get to her much. Leaving the village for a while she walked in the surrounding forest alone. She had only brought some kunai and shuriken with her, deciding that bringing her katana might be tempting fate.

It was a beautiful day which slowly wore on. She ate the food she had brought with her and continued to wander, not getting too far from the village. It was just when evening was turning to night when she heard a soft, almost silent footfall behind and to her left. Uzume paused, hand going to where her katana normally sat. She cursed herself when she remembered she had left it behind. The last few days had been some of the easiest of her life; she had fallen into a false sense of calm. It wouldn't happen again. She heard another footstep, this time closer, and quieter. Just as her hand tightened around a kunai, whatever was doing this, attacked. Uzume dashed to the side just in time, a shuriken narrowly missing her throat. Then her assailant came out of the trees, face and hair completely hidden.

Uzume paused to stare at the person, trying to pick up any sign of who it might be or where they came from but wasn't given much of a chance to dwell on things like that. The person seemed to be removing some of their mask but before she could see anything, fire was shooting towards her. She dodged and threw the kunai she had been holding at her attacker. They were next to each other now. Somewhere in the corner of her mind she registered it was a male attacking her. He caught the weapon without flinching and turned to fight her again. Hand to hand didn't seem to last long. It was the only time in the fight where she had any sort of proper defence. While they were close up he couldn't touch her.

It was around then he did the fire trick again. Uzume recognised it but only vaguely; it was one of the many things she had forgotten. She moved without thinking much, a swift dodge and she was suddenly hiding, hardly allowing herself to breath. The person was still standing on the path. They had their back to her so she couldn't see what they were doing. He did something else, again Uzume vaguely recognised it. This time she knew dodging would be useless but couldn't remember what she should do. Everything went black.

When Uzume woke everything came flooding back to her in less than a second and she sat bolt upright. Something wasn't right; the substance beneath her was soft and gave a little under her touch. She glanced around. She was indoors, from the looks of things, in the room Sasuke had given her. Kakashi was standing in the corner, reading one of his books. It took a few seconds for her to convince herself she was safe. "What happened…? I was attacked…" She mumbled staring around blankly.

Kakashi glanced at her and put his book calmly away before coming closer. He smiled at her but it wasn't his normal smile, something seemed to be on his mind and his smile faltered halfway through. "You were, by me," he answered both questions at once. Uzume stared at him as if he had two heads. "Your exams are only nine days away… or they were when I attacked you. You need training and I can't train you unless I know how strong you are already." She looked away sighing. Kakashi smiled. "You rely too much on taijutsu, well, fully on it. It's almost as if genjutsu and ninjutsu don't exist with you… leaving you a bit behind for the exam."

She glanced at him a little ashamed of herself. "I suppose saying oh well, better luck next time doesn't cut it?" she asked almost timidly. Kakashi stared at her in response making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"Uzume people die in these exams… You can't mess up," he said without blinking. She shuddered in response and looked away. She wasn't pleased at being told she had messed up, even if she had. Kakashi sighed and lent back. "We'll start with your training tomorrow, I expect to see you at 6.00am don't be late… you only have eight days left now." He got up no longer smiling or being his normal easy going self. "Get some sleep, remember, 6.00am."


	9. 9 I don't want to be like you

**Ok, very late... sorry. Writersblock, holiday and limited pc time!**

**Anyway, please reveiw?**

Uzume broke off the jutsu she was using quiet suddenly with a yelp of pain. She stared at her blackened finger tips with mild irritation as she thought about how easily she had learnt everything else Kakashi had taught her. What was so hard about keeping your fingers _away_ from the fire? Her chakra control had been corrected in the space of half an hour so now she didn't use too much or too little stamina. The trouble was she for some reason didn't seem to realise that fire is hot, and always put her hands far too close. "I don't know if anyone told you this Moriko, but fire, burns things," came the sarcastic response to another mistake. Kakashi only ever called her 'Moriko' when he was trying to stress a point.

"I'm trying damn it," she hissed back, starting up the hand signs again. Her speed had increased as well, so now her hands were a blur as she made the signs she needed perfectly. Feeling the Chakra build and change was something she didn't think she would ever get used to. This time she did things right and her fingers remained the colour they already were. "Finally," she muttered happily. Suddenly Uzume heard the whizzing of a shuriken and caught it instead of her normal dodge. Another thing Kakashi had taught her. Dodging took up more energy than simply catching an object. She smiled calmly and turned to face Kakashi eyebrow raised. "Better?" she asked.

"Yes," Kakashi replied, just as calm but with a smile on his face. Uzume smiled back and wandered over slowly; relaxing slightly in the warm of the sun. "Now we'll practise some Taijutsu," Kakashi told her while staring at a tree. "You know the numbers we assign to certain moves?" Uzume nodded and couldn't help but feel happy again. She was head and shoulders above most when it came to Taijutsu, having relied fully on it for twelve years. "I'll call out the number and you attack that tree with the move mentioned, 'K?"

It wasn't really a question, so Uzume made her way slowly to the tree and waited. "Five," Kakashi called out and Uzume kicked high, her foot slamming into the tree with enough force to break the bark. "Nine." She turned and punched with slightly less force, left hand. They carried on that way for a while. "Five," Kakashi called once more. Uzume hesitated half a second, tired from the work they had done so far, then kicked. "Too slow," Kakashi told her, appearing by her shoulder, book in hand. "Again." So she repeated the move. "Ah, you misunderstand," he smiled. She blinked in confusion but decided he would tell her eventually so waited. "When I said 'again'," Kakashi continued, eye flashing up to meet hers. "I meant another twenty times." Uzume's eyes narrowed but she turned and repeated the move twenty times.

"Now I want you to do 100 press ups," Kakashi said smiling. She glared at him, eyes flashing to the first stage of the sharingan and off again. Sighing in annoyance she got down and into the press up position. Suddenly Kakashi was standing on her back making her arms shake but they still held her up. "Didn't I mention it was with more weight than your own?" he asked innocently. She moaned and managed twenty before falling to the ground. "Start over," he muttered, distracted by his book.

She moaned. "You didn't tell me that I would have to lift myself and something three times as heavy," she mumbled as she started over. For a while Kakashi didn't answer and continued to read calmly. After a while she sighed in relief. "98, 99," she muttered smiling. Then her arms gave way under her and she fell to the ground hard.

"Start over," Kakashi muttered, again most of his attention on his book. Uzume yelled in anger at this. "Oh and its 200 now. If I am twice the weight I thought I guess you'll need to do twice as much." She groaned as she started up, feeling the heat coming from her arms as she tried to keep going, forcing herself not to take breaks.

Every breath caught in her chest and the air seemed like ice to her. Normally she could do up to four hundred press ups, no problem, but when she had drained at least two thirds of her chakra before hand? "150, 151, 152," she continued. She concentrated on her speech instead of her screaming muscles. "189, 190."Now she gasped for breath between the numbers. "199, 200," she sighed in relief. Kakashi stepped off her and she allowed her arms the satisfaction of giving way and letting her lie down.

"OK, that will do," Kakashi said smiling. "Tomorrow, same time, same place." As he walked away and Uzume forced herself into a sitting position she thought about how crazy things that morning had went. Kakashi was not only on time, he was early. Apparently he used to be 'friends' with Moriko and even though Uzume wasn't that person anymore, he didn't want to just left her die.

Sighing, she slowly got to her feet and stumbled back to the village and home. Sasuke was waiting for her when she got there, eyebrows raised. "Sorry I'm so late," she mumbled glancing at the time. Shaking his head lightly, Sasuke left the room to head to his own bed. Uzume rolled her eyes and went through to collapse on her bed. Her eyes remained stubbornly open as she thought about everything that had happened. The training had taken up so much energy that she hadn't been able to visit Aiko that day. Sighing sadly she tugged at the bandages that covered part of one arm to glance at the tattoo beneath. She had had this tattoo since before she lost her memory. No idea what it meant she had hidden it. Not even Kakashi had asked about it, not that she wanted them to.

After a pause, Uzume placed the bandages tightly back in place and reached into her bag. She pulled out a book and opened to the middle page. A photograph fell out onto her lap. A younger, innocent looking version of herself smiled out of the paper. And a boy. The whole reason she had watched team seven was _this_ boy. His eyes and nose were exactly the same shape as Sasuke's, his hair the same shade. Sighing in sadness she turned the picture over, two names used to be there. Both were almost completely gone. Now she knew her own name she could make out the remnants of 'Moriko' and beside it a single letter was still clear. 'I'.

Putting the photo away she lay back and let sleep take her… Still fully dressed. For the first time since her memory vanished, she had a different dream.

"Come _on_ Moriko, we just started," the boy from the photo frowned at her as he began to pace. The younger Moriko smiled at him in a way that couldn't be refused. The boy rolled her eyes. "Doesn't work on me."

"Please, come on we can get mint choc chip Ice cream Itachi!" Moriko smiled at him. He paused in his pacing, froze completely. "Mint choc chip, Itachi, your fave." Itachi paused then nodded in an annoyed fashion and went with Moriko towards the village.

Uzume woke with a start and stared out into the dark, eyes wide with surprise. Itachi had been her friend, the one she trained with. The one she had been most like, including Aiko. They had 

been almost exactly the same when it came to skill and parts of their personalities. Did that mean that if Itachi had been the one to go missing that _she_ would have…

**Is that a cliffhanger?**


	10. 10 The exams begin

**Sorry this has been so long, I had writers block and exams and loads of other stuff... here it is though. I got really into this chapter so hopefully I'll update again in the newyear.**

**Chapter ten**

**The exams begin**

Hanging high up in the trees, Uzume paused only to eat. The days had moved swiftly over this past week with each night of vigorous training very nearly driving her insane. Kakashi had given her a single task for today after leading her miles out of the village. Get back to the village. Sounds easy enough but when Kakashi Hatake is trying to stop you, it gets difficult. Not that it mattered much. The whole morning had passed by and Uzume hadn't so much as detected his chakra. Everything seemed to be going well. Even so, she didn't let her guard down as she stopped for her lunch, watching the nearby trees with the sharingan activated; still, not so much as a whisper.

Finishing her meal quickly, she got to her feet and gazed about her; giving the area one quick sweep before leaping nimbly down to the forest floor. She walked, silent as possible, watching for any signs of the jounin. Before long the village gates game into view, her target had been met. Uzume quickened her pace, keen to finish the job. There was a blur of motion which, with the help of the sharingan, Uzume saw was Kakashi. Cursing she dropped into a fighting stance, watching him warily. "You forgot to mask your chakra," he smiled.

Uzume didn't answer, continuing to watch Kakashi warily and reaching for some shuriken. Kakashi watched her warily. She threw the shuriken at him, aiming to injure not kill and then began to move. Quickly somersaulting backwards into the shadow of the trees she began to circle round but stopped dead at what she saw. That had only been a doppelganger; the real Kakashi was somewhere else. Uzume tried to silence her breathing and mask her chakra at the same time. Moving a lot slower so she could observe. After a while she dashed out of the trees towards the gate. Kakashi was suddenly standing in front of her. Uzume frowned, watching his attack as she continued to move. He threw two kunai, nothing too bad but if she dodged both she would be left wide open for another attack. Wincing, she moved to the side and allowed one of the kunai to scratch her arm. Over the bandage she always wore, which was torn away.

Kakashi froze, staring at the tattoo. "I was right, it was you…" he muttered, still staring. Uzume took the chance and leapt. Kakashi snapped out of his daze enough to grab hold of her ankle. They both fell to the ground, half in, half out of the gate. The guards were staring at them. "call it a draw?" Kakashi suggested, smiling at Uzume in the twilight of the afternoon.

Uzume rolled her eyes and kicked out of his grasp. "I say I win, I mean if I got _That_ close to Kenoha I'm going to have help." Kakashi just shrugged, getting up and dusting off his hands. Uzume glared at him from her position on the floor before smiling widely and accepting the help getting up when he offered it. In the past week, she had settled into life in Kenoha easily enough. Kakashi had become her first and only friend. This wasn't a bad thing, Uzume wasn't a people person, so having one friend was an achievement in itself. "So how far off are the exams?"

Kakashi pulled Uzume to her feet and they began to walk through the village, stopping only because Kakashi hadn't eaten. "Oh I think they started five minutes ago…" Kakashi mused. Uzume froze and stared at him in absolute horror. He smiled at her. "Don't worry you can still make it to the exam, in fact we've been heading that way for a while now."

Uzume's eyes flashed red, then black then red again as she struggled to control her temper and her chakra flow. "Kakashi! Are you insane? I have exhausted some of my Chakra today doing your little exercises! Not to mention the fact that I'm late, I mean I know that's become a common thing but… I thought they didn't let you in if you were late and…" She trailed off when she realised Kakashi wasn't listening. Big speeches were not common, even when Uzume was panicking. "Ok, fine. But I better go…"

Kakashi hardly had time to wave before Uzume was speeding off down the street and around the corner. She moved so fast hardly anyone could actually see her, travelling like this always threw her a little unless it was a fight but she felt the need. Bursting into the building she had been told the exam was held in she skidded to a halt outside the door, where an examiner was looking at her with raised eyebrows. "Uchiha Moriko I take it?" he asked expression cold. Uzume nodded, one hand on the wall, balancing her. The examiner sighed. "You are lucky your turn wasn't first, you have arrived in time for your own exam" That made Uzume stop and think. Weren't the exams held all at the same time, with everyone involved? "Here," a paper was thrust into her hands. "Memorize those facts or you automatically fail the exam, go inside and wait for your name to be called."

Uzume was practically pushed through the door, but she didn't mind. She moved to an empty seat and sat down, glancing at the others in the room quickly before turning her attention to the paper. There were ninja from all over, all different in appearance and clothing. Some were muttering to themselves, tugging at their hair and looking worried. Others were sitting completely still, save their eyes which moved over the page. Uzume sighed, activating the Sharingan for about the fourth time that day. She quickly scanned the paper before deactivating her eyes and folding the paper neatly.

Ninja came and left the room, some came in and simply sat down again, others left completely looking disappointed. Some went into the room beyond this one shaking, others dignified with their heads held high. Some even tried to sneak the paper in with them, they were instantly disqualified. "Uchiha Moriko!" a young looking Ninja was called her name out, only partly in the room. Uzume stood up, throwing her paper down on the chair she had been sitting on before moving to the Ninja. "Uchiha Moriko? Come in here, I must explain the nature of your exam before you continue." Growing more puzzled all the time, and wishing people would just call her Uzume, she followed the young ninja into a small room with another door at the opposite end. "Recite the facts upon the sheet you were given, in a random order please."

Uzume did so, picking out facts at random, telling them to the ninja that ticked them off on a list in front of her. "Very good," they muttered when she finished. "In the next room are three Ninja that are completely ignorant of the facts you just told me. They are going to try and gain these facts from you, in a comfortable interrogation. Your job is to make sure these facts do not fall into their hands." Uzume groaned, now it all made sense, that list wasn't important information but she more knew it like the back of her hand. "You may go in now."

Her hand twitched, just a little. Uzume took a deep breath and pushed the door to the next room open. "Uchiha Moriko, sit down!" someone immediately snapped at her. She glanced over the three ninja to her left calmly before strolling over a chair, alone in the room, and sitting down. "We are going to ask you some simple questions, ok?" a kindly looking woman was speaking. Uzume nodded, trying to monitor her own every move. Three seconds for a breath in, three for a breath out. Every five to ten minutes either brush hair to one side, scratch nose or cross legs a different way. "How old are you Moriko?"

"Uzume, actually," Uzume corrected her without caring of the consequences. The women frowned but otherwise didn't react, a good sign, this one is easy to read. "And I am unsure," Uzume continued with a tiny smile. "I am roughly twenty or twenty one, that's as close as you are going to get I'm afraid because it's as close as I know." A man sitting next to the women quickly glanced over Uzume, who scratched her nose.

"Very well," the women said after a pause in which the man noted something down. Uzume frowned just a little, wondering if she had given away something she shouldn't have. "You have memorised facts about a made up Ninja village, correct?" Uzume nodded, seeing no point in hiding the obvious. It's like someone asking if she knew anything about her home village, saying no wouldn't get you anywhere would it? "How many ninja does this hidden village contain?" Uzume didn't answer, she brushed some hair from her eyes. "Uchiha Moriko, the examiner did not tell you this but we are able to use other forms of interrogation if we see the need, so please answer the question."

Uzume bit her lip. Were they lying? The women seemed to sense victory. "Uchiha Moriko, we could keep you here as long as we wanted. With most of your family gone, nobody will come looking for you. Could you please tell us the answer to the question?" Uzume hesitated, then shook her head.

"Uchiha Moriko!" the man had gotten to his feet, passing a notebook along to a young boy. "Do I have to show you the things I can do to a person before you will talk?" He started walking towards her. Uzume flinched. "I have killed, accidentally of course, in my interrogations. I have driven people mad with pain, think you will talk now?"

"Driving them insane can't be good for your carrier," Uzume mused aloud, relaxing in the chair a little. "How will you ever get the information that way?" The man raised his fist and Uzume quickly shrank back. "Never mind that… I'll talk!" The man paused, watching her calmly and wondering if she was lying. "Please, let me calm down a second then I'll tell you everything you want." She was given her wish, she relaxed, getting her breathing back to normal, back to being calm. "There are one hundred and fifty Ninja in the hidden village you speak of…"

For the next half hour, Uzume answered all their questions calmly. Occasionally shifting a little in her seat. At the end of the thirty minutes they said she could go into the small room next door. She heard them discussing her performance with the Ninja she had met first. "She broke easily, I checked everything, she cracked and gave us the information. Not a change in her breathing or patterns." There was a pause, the first Ninja sighed sounding disappointed. "Here's a list of the information she gave us." After that there was a lengthy Silence in which Uzume let herself smile.

"I think that Uchiha Moriko should pass," it was the ninja that had let her in speaking. Cries of outrage came from the three that had interrogated her, demanding that Uzume be dropped from the exam, after all she had failed. "But that's just the thing, you see, the information you have here is fake, she pretended to snap and led you astray. Not only that, but you were fully convinced the entire time from the sounds of things… Moriko told you none of the facts on this paper." Uzume's smile turned to a grip when she heard paper being snatched from hands.

"Impossible, nobody is that convincing…"

"Myabe she really did snap but when she calmed down…"

"Or maybe, Uchiha Moriko is just living up to her family name," again the ninja that let her in. "I will go inform her now." Uzume continued to smile to herself as she was told to go and wait in the first room for the end of this exam. One part down.


End file.
